AgeLab Helms Booth at John Hancock Conference on Longevity Planning
by Adam Felts
The AgeLab helmed a booth at the Longer. Healthier. Better. symposium hosted by Manulife / John Hancock, convening global wellness experts, professional athletes, policymakers, and other renowned thought leaders in the longevity & health space. This was the second event following the inaugural symposium in 2023.
AgeLab researchers manned a station that featured the AgeLab’s AGNES aging simulation suit, two social robots, including PARO, and opportunities for attendees to try out and discuss components of AGNES like vision impairment goggles and weighted gloves. They presented alongside booths for wellness technologies companies like Oura, a company that produces a sleep and activity monitoring tool, and Prenuvo, a preventative medical screening company, as well as research organizations like the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts.
Thematically, the conference focused on challenges and opportunities related to longevity: people are living longer than ever before, but not necessarily healthier or better, which requires more complex planning for old age. Manulife / John Hancock aims to help customers live longer, healthier, and better lives through its financial services and solutions, including behavioural insurance offerings like the John Hancock Vitality program, which provides education, support, incentives and rewards to help customers take everyday steps towards better health.
On the main event stage, Manulife / John Hancock leaders discussed the company’s efforts to promote better health outcomes as part of a shared value approach to its business – helping people make healthier choices not only benefits the customer, but also Manulife / John Hancock’s bottom line as a life insurer, and society overall. A panel featuring Drew Brees and Jrue Holiday focused on the athletes’ efforts to extend their relevance in their demanding career fields. Maura Healey, governor of Massachusetts, discussed the importance of collaboration between industry and academia to produce effective interventions in wellness and healthcare. Experts in sleep, nutrition, memory, and exercise discussed some of the latest findings in their fields.
AgeLab Director Joe Coughlin, in one of the event’s final panels, pivoted the discussion toward environmental factors for wellbeing, noting that zip code more than any other number is the most powerful indicator of positive health income.
Conference attendees had a chance to win a raffle for the reward of being dressed fully in AGNES on the convention floor – and suddenly experiencing aging in an instant. Donning an attendee in AGNES was an opportunity, not just for the wearer of AGNES, but for observers, to consider how one can connect with one’s future self, and in doing so make choices that will have benefits not just for today but for years, and even decades, in the future.
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